I can't believe this decade is almost over.

Here are my rankings of studio released albums:
1. TRC- blew me away on first listen; a masterpiece.
2. One Night Alone- a somber and reflective Prince; very intimate.
3. Planet Earth- a real grower; gets better with every listen. I'd love 2 hear him sing these songs live.
4. Musicology- funkiest Prince album this decade; very accessible for casual Prince fans.
5. Lotusflow3r- 2 soon 2 make an honest assessment but liking it so far.
6. MPLSoUND- I was hoping it would b as good or better than Kanye's 808s and Heartbreak but not even close.
7. 3121- save 4 Black Sweat which I really love, the album dated really fast, 2 gimmicky and really despise the title track the more I hear it.
8. NEWS- just not my cup of tea. I don't care 2 listen 2 it again.

1.MPLSoUND
2.3121
3.LOTUSFLOW3R
4.THE RAINBOW CHILDREN
5.MUSICOLOGY
6.ONE NITE ALONE
7.CHOCOLATE INVASION
8.SLAUGHTERHOUSE
9.PLANET EARTH
10.NEWS
11.XPECTATION
12.C-NOTE

squirrelgrease said:

1. The Rainbow Children
2. Musicology
3. One Nite Alone...
4. MPLSound
5. 3121
6. Planet Earth
7. Lotusflow3r
8. The Chocolate Invasion
9. The Slaughterhouse
10. C-Note
11. N.E.W.S.
12. Xpectation

5 Stars

MPLSound
LotusFlower
3121
The Chocolate Invasion
The Slaughterhouse
The Rainbow Children

4 Stars

Musicology
One Nite Alone

3 Stars

N.E.W.S.
C-NOTE
Xpectation


2 Stars

Planet Earth
[Edited 4/3/09 7:28am]

Lotusflow3r
MPLSound
3121
The Rainbow Children
Musicology
Planet Earth
Chocaolate Invasion
Slaughterhouse
One Night Alone
N.E.W.S.
C-NOTE
Xpectation

Moonbeam said:

That's just the thing about "P.$"... He's got so many styles/flavors/moods/modes/skills that what makes a "best set of songs" is widely divergent among the fanbase. Okay. I hate it when people set up bi-modal analyses cuz I see continuums. But I'm going to blaspheme a lil.

Surely there is no one else who has as significant a faction of 'black-r&b music' fans among supporters as they do 'white-rock music' fans. Yes there is white r&b, and rock wouldn't be were it not for blackness, but watch an 80s one-hit wonders show with a diverse group of people and you are reminded of the differences Prince largely triumphs over.

In my opinion, as black and white music diverges--having been closest in the mid 80s (B/C of P and MJ)-- it is increasingly harder for Prince to appease us all and have his fans universally proclaim he's made a "great" album. People now just seem to want their "all guitar with no r&b" or "just straight funk with the smooth ballads"... and it's saddening. Until we're in the same crowd waiting for him to come on...

rainbowchild said:

So there with you. But 'U're Gonna C Me' and 'Valentina' are closing the number of plays against 'Welcome to Heartbreak' and 'Heartless.' Pink is in the mix with both 'I Don't Believe You' and 'Please Don't Leave.' Kings of Leon are finally fading but 'Use Somebody' is threatening to unseat 'The Word' which has been at the top for over two and half years while 'I Want You' has crashed the Top Ten in total plays. On this iteration of my Ipod/Itunes.
[Edited 4/3/09 19:51pm]

Risico said:

I do agree with SUPRMAN in that Planet Earth makes a better EP...the first half is classic P, the second half tanks pretty hard.

There's something real about Musicology--it's like even in that title, he was beginning to acknowledge that all that music came from somewhere else but was also completely his own as far as he made it. It's the best mix of his populist/historical side and his weird/political side this decade.

Though that said, my LF/MPSound mix had complete nonPrince fans loving it tonight. As one album, it would easily number one on this list.

****
Rainbow Children
Musicology (2004)
3121 (2006)
LOtUSFLOW3R (2009)
MPLSoUND (2009)

***
One Night Alone
One Night Alone... Live / it ain't over

**1/2
The Chocolate Invasion (2004)
The Slaughterhouse (2004)
PLANET EARTH

**
Xpectation (2003)
NEWS (2003)
C-NOTE (2003)

MPLSoUND (2009)
The Rainbow Children (2001)
LOtUSFLOW3R (2009)
One Nite Alone (2002)
3121 (2006)
Musicology (2004)
The Chocolate Invasion (2004)
The Slaughterhouse (2004)
C-NOTE (2003)
Xpectation (2003)
NEWS (2003)





Planet Earth (2007)

Moonbeam said:[quote]Update through murph's ballot:

1. LOtUSFLOW3R
2. MPLSoUND
3. 3121
4. The Rainbow Children
5. One Nite Alone
6. Musicology
7. Planet Earth
8. The Chocolate Invasion
9. NEWS
10. The Slaughterhouse
11. C-NOTE
12. Xpectation

Top 5

1. MPLS Sound
2. One Night Alone
3. Lotusflow3r
4. The Rainbow Children
5. 3121

*****
1.MPLSoUND (2009)
2.The Rainbow Children (2001)

****
3.3121 (2006)
4.LOtUSFLOW3R (2009)

***
5.Musicology (2004)
6.NEWS (2003)
7.Planet Earth (2007)
8.Xpectation (2003)
9.The Slaughterhouse (2004)

**
10.One Nite Alone (2002)
11.The Chocolate Invasion (2004)
12.C-NOTE (2003)

I edited my post since u didn´t count live albums.
[Edited 4/4/09 17:32pm]

T.R.C
N.E.W.S
O.N.A(PIANO)
LOTUSFLOW3R
3121
MUSICOLOGY
C-NOTE
XPECTATION
PLANET EARTH
MPLSOUND

good to see that the reainbow children doesn't fair so badly.
it's by far my favourite

The Rainbow Children (2001) *****
One Nite Alone (2002) ***
Xpectation (2003)
NEWS (2003)
C-NOTE (2003)
The Chocolate Invasion (2004) ***
The Slaughterhouse (2004) *
Musicology (2004) -
3121 (2006) **
Planet Earth (2007)
LOtUSFLOW3R (2009) **
MPLSoUND (2009) **
[Edited 4/4/09 9:47am]